


Unfounded Rancour

by hotpotat



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Coach Oikawa Tooru, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Teacher Sugawara Koushi, but Suga is unaware that they are enemies so is it really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:07:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28596699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hotpotat/pseuds/hotpotat
Summary: Iwaizumi had the bright idea that Oikawa should try coaching volleyball to kids after Oikawa finished his volleyball career. It would've only been a fun little thing, but after meeting the teacher responsible for the team, he mostly just wanted to beat Iwa up for making him do this.It wasn't that he had any reason to dislike Sugawara Koshi, he just didn't like him.
Relationships: Oikawa Tooru/Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 8
Kudos: 100





	1. Chapter 1

Oikawa looked at the school whose volleyball team he was to coach. It had been years almost a year since he stopped playing volleyball professionally and decided to try and settle down, or at least something close to it.

It had been Iwaizumi’s idea that he should try coaching kids instead of just moping around, complaining that only playing volleyball recreationally was possibly the most boring way to end one’s career. He thought about coaching professional teams, but that just didn’t feel right – it wasn’t that he couldn’t do it, rather it just felt like he wasn’t ready to become a professional coach. 

He still felt way too young to coach other players – after all, some of them were older than his 27-year-old self. He just needed a break from the life of a professional, end of sentence. However, after a few months of complaining to Iwa how he missed playing properly and would love to shout at people about their bad technique, something he couldn’t do if they were only playing for fun, Iwaizumi finally snapped and searched for schools looking for volleyball coaches. 

He found one after not even a week and sent it to Oikawa with a message telling him that if he didn’t try it out, he could never complain about being bored to Iwa ever again. 

Oikawa originally didn’t think he would do it, but after considering it for a few days, he decided to shoot his shot. The whole process was over in not even an hour – after hearing about his career, the teacher he talked to over the phone agreed to admit him. 

It was a high school volleyball team, which reminded him all about his high school career and the fact that he never did get to go to nationals. He decided that if he was become a coach, his team would make it to nationals, even if it meant working his students to their bones. He didn’t tell this to anyone, because he wasn’t sure how open they would be to his plan to possibly overwork what were essentially still children, and he himself wasn’t sure if it was the best possibly way to coach, but critical thinking would only come after he saw his team.

Which brought him back to this moment – standing in front of a high school gymnasium, feeling strangely nervous. 

He shook his head. What was he so worried about? He could absolutely do this. He wasn’t doing it for no other reason besides wanting to (and being afraid of pissing off his best friend even more than usual).

He took a deep breath and walked into the gym. 

The boys were doing warm-ups, tossing balls and running around, mostly just having fun. There was one adult to the side, watching them – it had to be the teacher he talked to on the phone. He had silver hair, but he didn’t look old enough to earn it. He was a bit shorter than some of the students, but not too short, and anything that he was lacking in height he made up for by the general aura of authority that seemed to seep from him.

He noticed Oikawa only a few seconds after he entered the gym and waved at him, shouting at the boys to stop what they were doing and gather around.

“Oh, I’m so glad you could make it, Mr Oikawa,” he said, strangely focusing on the ‘Mr’. When he walked closer, Oikawa felt like he had seen him somewhere before. He wrote it off to simply recognising his voice, but his face still strangely unsettled Oikawa – it was as if somewhere deep inside, it woke up an unhappy memory.

He had to put those thoughts aside, because now there were about fifteen eyes turned to him and he had to act like he knew exactly what he was doing, because no way in hell is he going to lose respect of these scrawny volleyball players on his first day. 

The introduction went by smoother than he had feared and the boys went back to warm-ups. He turned around to the teacher, his face once again arousing a strange feeling in Oikawa. The teacher caught his eye and laughed, further confusing Oikawa.

“Oh, sorry, I guess we hadn’t properly introduced each other. My name is Sugawara Koshi, but maybe you would better remember me as Suga,” the teacher said, offering Oikawa a hand.

Oikawa looked at the hand, then again at Suga’s hand and shook it. 

“I’m Oikawa Tooru, but I believe you know that already,” he smiled, determined not to show that he was still trying to sort Suga’s face into the people he has met over his lifetime. Maybe Suga noticed his musing, because he laughed again and looked away, back at the team.

“I’m not surprised you wouldn’t remember, seeing the amount of matches you have played since then, but we played against each other in high school.”

And suddenly the feeling of dislike made sense. This was Mr Refreshing, Karasuno’s pinch setter, one of the reasons why Aoba Johsai lost that match. He had buried the memory very deep, not even thinking about it almost a whole decade, but now, it was resurfacing and the hurt he felt after losing to their team along with it. He tried to ignore it – after all, it was almost a decade ago and he still became a professional even without needing to go to nationals, but somehow, the old feelings were resurfacing.

“Oh, don’t worry, I remember you and your sets well,” he said, trying not to sound as hurt as he for some ridiculous reason feels. He logically knows that the Suga that he played against has changed a lot and that now they were basically on the same team, coaching budding young talents, but he couldn’t get it out of his head. 

“Ah, I’m kind of glad, then,” Suga smiled. Oikawa didn’t like how easy-going Sugawara seemed to be, but decided that his dumb old feelings would have to be buried back to where they were, if he didn’t want to piss Iwa off even more.

The practice went fine, some of the students reminding him of himself when he was their age. However, the strange itch of dislike of Sugawara didn’t leave him even after they said their goodbyes and left for the day. 

He would simply need to either get used to it or completely get over it, seeing as he was about to see Sugawara at least four times a week, possibly more often. He would have to call Iwaizumi the moment he got home – it was, after all, mostly his fault that Oikawa was reminded of his old failure.

\- 

“Oikawa I swear to god, it’s been how many years? How can you be still stuck up about that? You’re an adult, behave like one,” growled Iwaizumi when he did get around to calling him. 

Oikawa completely understood the ridiculousness of his own feelings, but he needed to get them out of his system, and, well, Iwaizumi was always a shitty listener – perfect for the current situation.

“You just don’t get it, Iwa-chan! He’s like the embodiment of my ruined high school career. Do you know how much easier it would’ve been if we won that match? We probably could’ve gone to nationals if it weren’t for them- for him!”

Oikawa was laying on his couch, dramatically spread over it while he gesticulated at his coffee table, because Iwaizumi wasn’t there to witness it. He considered going over to Iwaizumi’s, but decided that the effort to get there and be dramatic in front of him could instead be used to be even more dramatic in his living room. 

“Oikawa, we were on the same team, remember? You’re being ridiculous again. If you only want to complain about this, I’m hanging up.”

Oikawa rolled his eyes. He knew that Iwaizumi was being serious, but he didn’t want to stop talking to him yet – there was so more he needed to complain about, like how the students weren’t in a particularly good shape, how he realised he had no idea how to teach a group of teenagers (which mostly a lie and they both knew it) and how he couldn’t believe that a star like him wouldn’t gain the respect of his students (it did, they were smitten when they realised that Oikawa the coach and Oikawa the player were in fact the same person and he had to sign a few t-shirts then). But he mostly wanted to talk about how annoying the white-haired man was and how having to be nice to him drained all his energy. 

After a few seconds of silence, when he was sure Iwaizumi was just about to click on the hang up button, he blurted out something about not being able to teach someone who doesn’t even recognize him. He could almost hear the eyeroll from the other side, but at least Iwaizumi didn’t hang up. They talked for a few more minutes, mostly Oikawa annoying Iwaizumi, before they hung up.

Oikawa stayed on his couch, staring at the ceiling and thinking back to the silver-haired man. After a few minutes he got up and decided to go on a late run.

-

The following few days went by strangely quickly – he wasn’t used to actually working, if coaching kids could even be considered real work for him – but his dislike of Sugawara didn’t disappear. It wasn’t that Sugawara – or Suga, as he told Oikawa a few times already – was a bad person. If anything, he seemed to be a great teacher and didn’t seem to notice, or at least chose to ignore Oikawa’s dislike of him, which was something Oikawa wasn’t sure how to feel about.

If Suga had acted the same, it would be easy to simply explain to Iwaizumi that Oikawa wasn’t the problem that his shot at coaching volleyball ended horribly and he could peacefully annoy him with complaints of boredom once again. But no, Sugawara had to be a great teacher who could put up with even Oikawa’s stupidity. 

The kids also weren’t a problem in any way – sure, their technique wasn’t perfect and they could be more invested in the game, but all in all they were a decent bunch and he enjoyed coaching them. They even had a practice game that Sugawara set up and were ridiculously excited about it.

Oikawa thought about possible motivation for the kids to do their best and figured that meeting an active professional player would be something the kids would love. 

Thankfully, Bokuto had owed him a favour and he felt that this was the best way to use it. The kids would love the man and he was sure that Bokuto would love to show off to the younger generation.

He told this to Sugawara to get his opinion before telling the students, and he seemed to absolutely love the idea.

“You know, it’s one thing for an ex-professional to coach them, but meeting an active player may be even better! It’s a wonderful idea, Oikawa!”

And that wasn’t probably meant to come off the way it did, but to Oikawa it simply sounded like he was somehow worse than Bokuto. After that, any form of positive feelings he felt toward Sugawara went back to zero.

“You know he didn’t mean it like that, why are you acting so butthurt about it?” Iwaizumi asked him when they met for lunch. Oikawa simply slumped against the booth and glared at him. 

“How do you know that? Can you read his mind or something? Just admit that I was right and Sugawara is actually an asshole. My intuition was correct!” Iwaizumi didn’t bother responding and instead continued chewing while looking at Oikawa.

They had this little lunch date every Sunday, or at least anytime their schedules allowed it. He didn’t mean to talk about Sugawara again, but as it happened, he couldn’t keep his thoughts off the man. He couldn’t believe his luck – having to coach kids with his enemy. What a joke.

When he informed Iwaizumi about Sugawara’s new title, he just rolled his eyes.

“You two are literally having to cooperate on this. He’s not your enemy, you’re just being ridiculous again. When will you grow up, Oikawa?” he asked him, leaning his head against his palm and just watching Oikawa try to come up with a decent reason as to why a man who he hadn’t met in ten years could so quickly become his enemy.

“You know what, Iwa-chan? Okay. I will play nice, I will act like he’s not an asshole, but you will have to continue listening to me complain about him. Is that what you want?”

“That’s what’s happening anyways. Maybe if you try to be a decent person around him, you would realise that he’s not as bad as you make him out to be.” Oikawa just sighed and pushed the last noodle in his otherwise empty ramen bowl around.

“Okay, how about this,” Iwaizumi said. “If you are decent to him for at least a month, I will get your whole team the tickets to my team’s match. But you’re not allowed to complain about Sugawara the whole time.”

Oikawa frowned at him. “You do realise I could probably get those same tickets without needing to be nice to that asshole, right?” Iwaizumi just massaged his temple and looked back at Oikawa.

“Yes, but this way you don’t need to bother yourself with anything except going to the match and making sure your students don’t die on the way there. I’ll take care of the rest.” And a second later he added: “Please, Oikawa, do it for my mental health. If I have to listen to you rave on about this teacher, I will need professional help.” At this, Oikawa just sighed, but nodded anyways.

“Okay, but only for a month. You’ll see that he’s actually an asshole and it’s not just me who’s the problem.”  



	2. Chapter 2

It was proving to be much more difficult to be a decent person than Oikawa had expected. He still felt a strange sense of dislike when it came to Sugawara Koshi, but the less bitchy he was around him, the more he started to feel like it really wasn’t Sugawara who was the problem. He didn’t tell Iwaizumi about it yet, however, since he still had a few weeks left to their bet, and complaining about the sudden realisation that Sugawara was actually a fairly nice person would technically count as complaining about Sugawara.

He mostly realised that Sugawara wasn’t actually trying to be an awful human being during the practice match their team played. On the way there, Oikawa attempted to be a decent person and tried asking about Sugawara. The conversation shifted from talking about high school to university and why he chose teaching and Oikawa had to admit that for an asshole, Sugawara seemed to be awfully nice.

The match went by fine, their team won, and Oikawa spent the rest of the trip back texting Bokuto about when he would be free to inspire a few high schoolers. They settle on a date next week, which was definitely much sooner than Oikawa had expected he would be free – but then again, the moment Oikawa brought up the possibility of Bokuto having fun with teenagers again, he accepted immediately. Sometimes Oikawa wondered how such a large child was allowed to exist in an adult world and wondered who did his taxes for him.

Sugawara was also quietly texting someone, but Oikawa decided that for one day, he had tried hard enough and didn’t need to be nice on the way back too. After all, the match was exhausting not only for the kids, but also for Oikawa – having to think about strategies and being nervous that the kids were going to screw up something was tiring.

When they returned back to their school, he realised ho should probably mention Bokuto coming next week, so that Sugawara wouldn’t be caught off guard by a random professional coming to visit their practice.

“Oh hey, Sugawara? You know how I promised the kids that Bokuto would come if they did well enough? He said he’s free on Tuesday next week,” he said, turning to Sugawara who was checking whether the kids didn’t leave anything on the bus.

“Oh really?” Sugawara turned to him with a smile. “That’s wonderful, I’m sure they’ll be happy to see him. Thank you, Oikawa, really!”

Oikawa just nodded and was about to leave the bus, when Sugawara spoke again.

“Ah, I was actually wondering – would you like to go out for a beer tonight? Unless you have plans already, I mean. It could be nice to let off some steam over a couple of drinks.”

Oikawa considered this. He had no plans for tonight aside from annoying Iwaizumi with his texts and either rewatching X-Files or putting on some stupid movie to fall asleep to, but it wasn’t like he wanted to spend more time than necessary with Sugawara. He imagined Iwaizumi in his head, telling him how nice people would accept the offer and that he promised he would be nicer to Sugawara. He sighed internally – he should’ve just refused the bet. It was such a stupid bet. He should’ve refused the tickets. But then he imagined how happy the kids would be and how little his bank account it would hurt.

“I’m free tonight,” he smiled forcefully, already regretting his decision to agree. It wasn’t like he couldn’t just not mention it to Iwaizumi, but he was determined to prove that he was no an asshole, no matter how many times Iwaizumi said so.

“That’s great then,” Sugawara smiled, straightening up with a bag in his hands. “I know a nice place not far from here, we can walk.”

-

Becoming a professional athlete was a mistake. Not because of all the stress and the injuries, the disappointment of lost matches and the odd working hours. No, it sucked because while all his old classmates built up their alcohol tolerance in university and adulthood, he wasn’t allowed to drink, because it would interfere with his training. It didn’t mean that he never drank, only that he was a mild light-weight.

And by the looks of it, Sugawara Koshi was anything but a lightweight.

They were in a restaurant of sorts, eating and drinking and talking, about the practise match and how they hoped the kids would only get better, how they were going to have to think about nationals and whether they could even make it.

“Nationals aren’t even that big of a deal,” Oikawa frowned, drinking what had to be his third beer of the night. He wasn’t _drunk_ , just tipsy, but that still helped him become somehow even more talkative. It was easier to talk to Sugawara when everything around him felt so fuzzy and nice. It was probably time for him to stop drinking any alcoholic beverages, he decided, especially after looking at Sugawara who looked completely sober.

“Maybe not for you, but the kids want to make it. Not to mention, now they might be able to,” Sugawara smiled and bit into his meal. “You’re a great coach, you know? I didn’t even hope that someone like you would respond. When I heard your name I couldn’t believe my ears!” Sugawara laughed.

Oikawa smiled at him, leaning back. “At least you know how lucky you are,” he said, closing his eyes. He was awfully full and needed to go to the bathroom, so he just got up, not even bothering to wait for Sugawara’s reply.

As he was walking back to his seat, he pulled out his phone and shot a quick text to Iwaizumi.

**you know, drinking is fun, why didn’t we do it more often?**

He put away his phone and sat back to his place, seeing a bottle that looked suspiciously not like a beer. He eyed the bottle, then Sugawara, who just laughed.

“I though we might switch to something stronger, since it’s late anyways.”

Oikawa squinted back at the bottle. He knew that if they started actually drinking, he couldn’t keep pace with Sugawara, but a small piece of him wanted to drink anyways. He hadn’t gotten drunk in way too long, the buzz felt nice and he didn’t want to sober up the moment he walked into the cooler air outside. He looked at Sugawara and shrugged.

“Well, we have to celebrate our student winning the match, don’t we?” he said, sitting down and taking the glass Sugawara handed him.

-

They talked about more things, reminiscing about high school, about the matches they played together (Oikawa tried not to show the grudge he was still holding for Sugawara’s team and instead just smiled politely, adding something to the conversation here and there until they changed the subject to Sugawara’s younger brother, who was still in university and Oikawa’s nephew, who was just deciding on one.) It was overall a nice evening and they drank more than enough.

He thought he was handling the alcohol alright, but after they had finished the bottle and he stood up to go to the bathroom again, he suddenly felt the ground below him move. He steadied himself, praying that Sugawara didn’t notice his unsteadiness and walked to the bathroom again. When he returned to his seat, Sugawara was also getting up.

“I think it’s about time we finished our dinner. I’ll just quickly go to the bathroom and then pay,” Sugawara said, pulling out his wallet.

“No, it’s okay, I can get it,” Oikawa said, drunkenly reaching to his jacket to pull out his wallet.

“I asked you to come so I’m paying, simple as that,” Sugawara argued and before Oikawa could answer, he walked away. Oikawa just shook his head and hailed a waiter to get the check. He wouldn’t be defeated by Sugawara.

By the time Sugawara returned, frowning due to being told that the bill was already paid for while he was away, Oikawa had already put on his jacket and stood next to the table, smirking at Sugawara.

“Next time I won’t let you do that,” he said, putting on his jacked and punched Oikawa in his side. Oikawa’s normally lightning-fast reflexes were dulled by the alcohol and he stumbled a little bit, but luckily before he could topple over, Sugawara caught him.

“Watch out,” Sugawara laughed and Oikawa just blinked at him, unsure whether he should also laugh or act like by touching him, Sugawara was committing a crime. He decided to simply straighten and started walking, trying not to bump into anything on his way out.

When they finally reached the world outside the restaurant, it was already dark. He considered calling a taxi, but they weren’t far from his apartment, and a walk would help him clear his head from the alcohol. He turned to face Sugawara so he could say goodbye, only to see Sugawara watching him with thoughtful eyes.

“Do you live far from here? I should probably walk you home, you seem like you need a walk,” Sugawara said, his eyes crinkling with a smile. Oikawa just blinked at him, gathering up willpower to act sober, but ultimately failing and just nodding. After talking to Sugawara all night, he felt like they had known each other for much longer than just a few weeks. He could trust him to safely lead him home.

“Do you know how to get there or do you just want to give me the address?” Sugawara asked, pulling out his phone, presumably to look up the address Oikawa would give him. At this, Oikawa straightened up (or at least did his best attempt to do so) and started walking, forcing Sugawara to jog a little to catch up to him.

“I may be drunk as fuck, but that does not mean I don’t remember the way to my home. What do you take me for, Mr Sugawara?” he said, looking down on his feet so he wouldn’t trip over himself. Sugawara reached an arm around him to help him find his balance and laughed.

“Sorry to be so presumptuous, Mr Oikawa,” he said, matching his pace with Oikawa’s drunken stumbling.

They walked like this until about half-way to his apartment, Oikawa spotted a set of swings and broke free of Sugawara, suddenly feeling much more sober. Sugawara swore at him and ran after him, stopping a few feet from the swing set and watched as Oikawa dropped himself into one and started swinging his legs, which were far too long for them.

“Why don’t you join me, Suga? You’re not old enough to be a grumpy adult who can’t have fun, are you?” he said, trying to reach higher with each swing. Sugawara just shook his head and stayed where he was.

“At least one of us should act like an adult,” he said and walked a bit to one of the poles that were holding up the construction before leaning on it. Oikawa looked at him and now that he was closed, he could see the blush from all the alcohol they drunk dusting Sugawara’s cheeks.

He stopped the swing and stood up, slowly walking over to where Sugawara was leaning against the pole. “What I’m hearing is that you are, in fact, a grumpy adult. One of those old men that can’t let young souls have fun. What an awful condition, Mr Sugawara, you should get it checked out before it starts affecting you physically,” he said leaning towards Sugawara.

He felt his head swimming from the momentum of the swing, of the sudden stop and all the alcohol in his body that was floating everywhere. He leaned his face towards Sugawara’s, who wasn’t backing away, only staring at him with those wide eyes. He looked at the blush that was now so incredibly close he could feel the heat it radiated.

He leaned all the way in, pressing his lips against Sugawara’s warm ones and closed his eyes.

Oikawa could feel his head swimming, from the evening and from the feeling of Suga’s soft lips moving against his own. He reached his hands out, hugging Suga closer, until he could press himself against his warm body.

When they finally pulled away, Sugawara opened his eyes and stared at him.

“You know,” he started, looking into Oikawa’s eyes, “when you started coaching the kids, it felt like you didn’t really like me.” He stopped, searching for something in Oikawa’s eyes. 

Oikawa smirked, brushing their lips together again.

“You weren’t wrong about that.”

“What changed then?” Sugawara asked, shifting his gaze from Oikawa’s eyes to his lips.

“Who says anything changed?”

Sugawara crumpled his nose and Oikawa laughed at his expression.

“Guess I just changed my mind.”

-

“Oikawa when I said to act like a decent person around him, I didn’t mean you two should become a thing,” Iwaizumi said, a bit too loud for Oikawa’s liking.

It was only the day after he went drinking with Suga, only a few hours after he kissed him. He was on his weekly lunch with Iwaizumi, trying to calm the banging in his head by a meal, while Iwaizumi lost his mind next to him.

“Does that mean I won the bet though? I mean I doubt the next few weeks I will complain about Suga being an asshole,” Oikawa said, dodging a crumpled napkin Iwaizumi threw at him.

“Absolutely not, you asshole,” Iwaizumi said, stuffing rice into his mouth. “You still have three weeks left. You can still fuck it up.”

Oikawa just smirked and leaned back in his seat. He thought about the way Sugawara looked right after he kissed him, about the way he gave him a goodbye kiss that turned into two more when they reached his apartment, Oikawa thankfully sobered up and capable of walking alone, the text he received this morning from Suga telling him he hoped it wasn’t only a drunken mistake and to which he answered by asking him out on a real date and knew he wouldn’t fuck this up.

**Author's Note:**

> this was written way too late so I apologize for any typos or shitty grammar. I love these two together and just felt a need to write something small hehe


End file.
